Tail-gate lift



April 19, 1955 KRASNO 2,706,565

TAIL-GATE LIFT Filed May 10, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. MAXWELL. R. Kfl

ATTORNEY April 19, 1955 M. R. KRASNO TAIL-GATE LIFT 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 10, 1951 April 19, 1955 M. R. KRAS'NO 2,706,565

TAIL-GATE LIFT Filed May 10, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 iNVENTOR.

MAXWELL R. Kaasno F e. 8 y

22 ZF-41 7M ATTORNEY United States Patent TAIL-GATE LIFT Maxwell R. Krasno, Waukesha, Wis., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Gar Wood Industries, Incorporated, a corporation of Michigan Application May 10, 1951, Serial No. 225,480 14 Claims. (Cl. 21475) This invention relates to improvements in tail-gate lifts for pick-up trucks with express-type bodies or platorms.

Heretofore apparatus of this type was especially designed to fit a particular size body and was not universally adapted to fit most sizes of pick-up truck bodies. Usually the lift was assembled piece-meal to the truck body and hence was costly to install.

It is an object of this invention, therefore, to provide a tail-gate lift which may be secured as a unit to an express type body or platform by merely bolting the unit to the frame thereof.

Another object of this invention is to provide such a unitary tail-gate lift which is also adjustable in width for adaptation to varying size express-type bodies or platforms.

A still further object is to provide a tail-gate lift which incorporates in the unit the lifting mechanism, its controls, and safety devices.

A further object is to provide a tail-gate lift which Will not distort and jam as the gate is lowered and comes to rest upon an uneven surface.

To obtain these objects two hollow pillars are used as guides for sliders having gate pivot hangers extending out of the pillars to which the tail-gate is pivotally mounted. One of these pillars is rigidly secured to a main housing which extends laterally of such pillar. The other pillar has a lateral extension which telescopically interfits with such main housing. Both the pillars and the main housing have studs which pass through the vertical and horizontal frame members at the rear of the express body and are secured therein by nuts to mount the lift as a unit to such body. Holes are drilled in such frame member from a standard template which does not vary in spacing with different size frames because the studs are rigidly spaced vertically and horizontally with respect to one corner of the unit. As the unit is mounted the telescopic interfit is loosened and adjusted to suit the Width of the express body and thereafter securely fastened. The tail-gate is as wide as is necessary for the widest of standard express bodies but the pivot carried by it is exposed for sufficient distance to receive the hangers on the sliders after the unit has been adjusted to narrower bodies.

The mechanism for raising and lowering the sliders and tail-gate includes a fluid pressure motor mounted Within the main housing. The piston rod of such motor carries a first group of sheaves which move with respect to a second group of sheaves carried within the housing, the axes of which are fixed relatively to such housing. A flexible wire rope is reeved over these sheaves with one end portion extending horizontally into one pillar and the other end portion extending horizontally into the other pillar, the portions being guided by directional pulleys so as to extend vertically downward within each slider. When fluid power is supplied to the motor the first group of sheaves are moved away from the second group of sheaves and the sliders are raised. It is desirable to use enough sheaves in each group to get a l to 4 ratio so that a relatively short travel of the rod will produce four times as much movement of the sliders. This enables the motor to be installed within the main housing and still have ability to raise and lower the sliders the necessary distance. The sliders and pillars are long enough so that an adequate part of the sliders remains in the pillars when the sliders are lowered to the permitted maximum. This insures against cocking and jamming of the sliders in the pillars. At least one of the pillars has a compartment adjacent the slider guiding chamber for housing the motor controls and safety lock. The safety lock secures the motor control in neutral position and also locks the slider in the raised position, thus taking the strain off the lifting mechanism.

As the siders are lowered and one end of the tail-gate should strike an object higher than the general level of the ground, such as a curb, the movement of the slider at that end is stopped without injury to the raising and lowering mechanism because the flexible wire rope would take the slack occasioned by such stopping. The other slider would continue to lower independently of the stopped slider. Since both are separately guided, neither will tend to cock and jam as this occurs. The openings in the tail-gate hanger are larger than the diameter of the tail-gate pivot so that such gate may freely cock with respect to such hangers without putting any stress on the sliders tending to cock them.

The novel features, which are considered characteristic of the invention, are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood from the following description of a specific embodiment when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a tail-gate lift embodying the invention secured to an express-type body with the tail-gate opened and lowered;

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of such tail-gate lift; the tail-gate as raised is shown in broken line;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view in side elevation of such tail-gate lift with the tail-gate closed and locked;

Fig. 4 is a view in front elevation (from the rear of the vehicle) of such tail-gate lift;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary enlarged rear end view of such tail-gate lift, part being shown in section for the sake of clarity;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken from the meandering section line 66 of Fig. 5 with the bottom plate of the main housing removed;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on line 77 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view taken on line 88 of Fig. 4 with part being broken away and shown in section for the sake of clarity;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 99 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 10-10 of Fig. 11; and

Fig. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on line 11-11 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, the tail-gate lift is shown mounted to the rear end of an express type body 10 of standard design. Such type of bodies are generally used on pick-up type trucks. Throughout this description views designated as front views are taken from the rear of the vehicle and the left-hand side is sometimes referred to as roadside and the right-hand side referred to as curbside. The unitary tail-gate lift consists generally of a pair of vertical pillars 12 and 14 which are secured to a horizontal extensible main housing 16. Within these pillars are guided sliders 18 and 20 on the lower end of which is pivotally mounted a tail-gate 22. The tailgate lift as a unit is secured to the frame 24 of an express type body 10 by studs 26 secured to the pillars 12 and 14 inserted through the vertical members of such frame and held by nuts, and by studs 28 secured to the main housing 16 and inserted through the horizontal member of such frame 24 and held by nuts. Openings in the frame 24 for the studs 26 and 28 are drilled using standard spacing for all size bodies as no change takes place in the spacing between such studs as the unit is adjusted widthwise. A lifting mechanism for the sliders 18 (see Figs. 5 and 6) is mounted within the main housing 16 and is operated from a fluid pressure pump (not shown) driven from the motor of the pick-up truck. A manual control 30 mounted on the pillar 12 is shown in neutral position and is moved to the left to lower the tail-gate and to the right to raise the tail-gate. When in the raised position the tail-gate 22 may be swung to closed position shown in Fig. 3 where it will be held by the locking mechanism 32. A safety device 34 shown in detail in Fig. ll is carried by a cover plate on the pillar 12 and locks the control 30 in neutral position and also mechanically locks the roadside slider 18 in fully raised position. As the widths of express type bodies vary somewhat deepnding upon the truck model and manufacturer, the main housing 16 is made extensible so that the pillars 12 and 14 may be properly alined with the vertical members of the frame of a particular express type body. Such extension of the main housing is made feasible by using flexible cables for supplying the lifting power of the sliders 18 and 20 as such cables are easy to adjust in conformity with the widthwise adjustment. A detailed description of the foregoing general elements of the unit follows.

Pillars Each of the pillars 12 and 14 is of substantially identical construction except that roadside pillar 12 is lefthand and curbside pillar 14 is right-hand. The pillars are substantially square in cross section and are divided into a guide channel 36 and a control channel 38 by an internal wall 40 (see Figs. 5, 6, and 11). The guide channels 36 at their lower rears are provided with slots 42 to accommodate the travel of tail-gate hangers. Such slots may be kept covered by rubber curtains 44 to prevent dust, mud, and the like from entering into such guide channel. The inwardly facing walls of the guide channels 36 are slotted at 46 to receive directional pulleys 48 mounted in trunnions 50 carried by such pillars with such pulleys partially within the guide channels 36 and partially within the main housing 16 (see Figs. and 6). It is desirable to have covers 52 (see Fig. 5) for such pulleys to prevent the flexible cable when slack from jumping off such pulleys. Each of the pillars 12 and 14 is provided with a cap 54 which is removable in order to gain access to the top of the sliders to properly adjust the flexible cable. It is also desirable to provide dust covers 56 for the open bottoms of the pillars. These covers are movably held by springs 58 so that they are continually urged toward the bottom of the pillars to close them when the sliders are fully raised. As the sliders are lowered, however, the caps will automatically swing partially open to permit the sliders to extend below the bottoms of the pillars. In pillar 14 the control channel 38 performs no function. However, in pillar 12 such channel provides operating space for part of the control mechanism and hence the outwardly facing wall of such pillar has an opening 60 which provides access to the interior of the control channel 38. Such opening is enclosed by cover 62 which also carries the safety device 34.

Main housing As previously stated, the main housing 16 is extensible so that pillars 12 and 14 may be properly alined with the vertical frame members 24 of express type bodies of varying widths. This is accomplished by rigidly mounting the main housing 16 to the roadside pillar 12 and having such housing long enough to extend substantially across the space between the pillars when adjusted for the narrowest width body to which the unit is secured. Thus such main housing will be sufl iciently long to fully contain and mount the fluid pressure motor. Suspended from the interior of the main housing 16 are mounting brackets 64 and 66 for respectively mounting the roadside and curbside end of the cylinder of the fluid pressure motor. A cable guide 88 may also be provided to prevent the flexible cable from becoming entangled with the movable sheaves. This guide also slidably engages the sheave cover 114 to prevent rotation of the movable sheaves about the axis of the piston rod 102. A bottom plate 70 incloses the lower end of the main housing 16 and permits access to the lifting mechanism. A short extension 72 is secured to the curbside pillar 14 and slidably fits within the main housing 16. A plurality of bolts and nuts 73 clamp the main housing 16 and the extension 72 after proper adjustment for width.

Sliders Sliders 18 and 20 are of substantially rectangular shape in section and have a close sliding fit within the guide chamber 36. They are long enough so that in the fully lowered position an adequate length of the sliders remains in guiding relationship with the pillars to provide a long bearing which prevents cocking and binding. Each of the sliders has a longitudinally extending opening on the inwardly facing wall to permit the sliders to move up and down within the pillars without interference from the directional pulleys 48. At the bottom of each of the sliders are hangers 82 for pivotally mounting the tailgate 22. Each hanger has a bearing opening (not numbered) which receives the tail-gate pivot. Such bearing is positioned inwardly and upwardly a substantial distance from a vertical flat surface 84. This flat surface cooperates with a similar surface on the tail-gate 22 to maintain such gate in horizontal position without the use of chains, etc. Within each of the sliders and at the bottom thereof is a chuck 86 over which the flexible cable is led. Each chuck 86 has a groove for the cable and a bottom 96 loosely holds the cable in such groove should slack occur. The chucks 86 being positioned at the bottoms of the sliders permit such sliders to be raised until such bottoms are substantially at the level of the directional pulleys 48. Below the upper end of the sliders and on the inside thereof there are positioned supports 88 on which rest plates 90. Eye-bolts 92 extend upwardly through openings in such plates and a nut 94 adjusts the distance of the eyes below such plates. The ends of the flexible cable are secured to such eyes and by adjustment of such bolts each cable may be placed under proper tension.

Lifting mechanism The lifting mechanism by which the sliders are raised and lowered consists of a fluid pressure motor which has its cylinder 98 mounted on the bracket 64 and 66 so that it is rigidly suspended within the main housing 16. A piston 100 to which is secured a piston rod 192 is reciprocal in such cylinder and is urged to collapsed position by a spring 104. At the piston rod end of the cylinder there is provided a cable guide 106 which has a plurality of openings 107 for guiding the flexible cable (see Fig. 9). A set of four sheaves 188 is fixedly located at the roadside end of the piston 98 and a cover 110 partially surrounds such sheaves to keep the cable thereon. A movable set of four sheaves 112 is carried on the end of the piston rod 102 and travels as a set therewith. Such sheaves are also provided with a cover 114 for keeping the cable thereon. An adjustable collar 115 is mounted on the piston rod 102 outside the cylinder to provide an adjustable limit stop for the inward movement of such rod. Such adjustment is convenient to properly adjust the lowermost limit of the travel of the sliders. On the bottom of the cylinder 98 is located a cable anchor 116 to which is secured the inner ends of the flexible cables. The inner end of the roadside cable 118 is connected to the right-hand end of the anchor 116 and such cable is reeved: first to a sheave on the movable set 112; second to a sheave on the fixed set 108; third to a sheave on the movable set 112; and fourth to the directional roadside pulley 48 from which it depends within the slider 18, passing under the chuck 86 and up to the eye-bolt 92. The inner end of the curbside cable 120 is connected to the left-hand end of the anchor 116 and such cable is reeved: first to a sheave on the fixed set 108; second to a sheave on the movable set 112; third to a sheave on the fixed set 108; fourth to a sheave on the movable set 112; fifth to a sheave on the fixed set 108; and sixth to the curbside directional pulley 48 from which it depends within the slider 20, passing under the chuck 86 and up to the eye-bolt 92. The outer ends of the cables are secured to the eye-bolts by cable clamps 124. The cables 118 are preferably made of flexible wire rope and are suificiently strong to carry considerable load. The tension in each cable may be adjustable by removing the caps 54 when the sliders are raised and adjusting the nuts 94 by means of an elongated socket wrench until the respective sliders are adjusted to substantially level position with the tail-gate 22 level with the floor board of the express type body. In making such adjustment with respect to slider 18 care must be taken to aline the hole of the safety mechanism as hereinafter explained. The roadside end of the cylinder 98 is connected by suitable inlet pipe 122 to a fluid pressure pump and when fluid pressure is supplied the piston rod 102 moves to the right and increases the distance between the fixed set of sheaves 108 and the movable set of sheaves 112. This causes the outer ends of each of the flexible cables to be drawn upwardly a distance of four times the distance traveled by the piston rod. Hence the required motion is supplied to the sliders with relatively small motion of the fluid pressure motor.

Tail-gate A pivot 126 for mounting the tail-gate 22 to the hangers 82 is suspended in bearings on the tail-gate which are spaced to provide for axial adjustment of the hanger 82 in conformity with the widthwise adjustment of the pillars 12 and 14. As is shown in Fig. 5, the inner bearings 128 are spaced from the outer bearings 130 and when the tail-gate is assembled to the hangers 82, spacers 132 of varying widths are inserted between the hangers 82 and such inner and outer bearings. The spacers being of assorted lengths may be shifted around to adequately fill in the space between the bearings 128 and 130 and the hangers 82. The pivot 126 is held in place by collars 133 pinned to its outer ends. Inside the sloping outer end of the tail-gate 22 there are latch engagement plates 134, access to which is obtained by elongated openings 135. Such openings are substantially the same length as the distance between the bearings 128 and 130 and permit the latch to engage with the plates 134 at the various widthwise settings of the pillars 12 and 14.

The locking mechanism (see Fig. 6) for holding the tail-gate closed consists of a latch 136 pivoted in a housing of the locking mechanism 32 secured to the pillars 12 and 14 near the upper ends thereof. The latch 136 has a flat surface which engages with the latch engagement plates 134. Such surface is long enough to permit slight variations in the vertical adjustment of the tail-gate while still making an effective locking engagement. The latch 136 is continually urged into latching position by a spring 138. A handle 140, which acts as the pivot for the latch 136, also has a bar 142 which engages with the latch 136 upon counter-clockwise movement of such handle to move the latch to disengaging position. Whenever the tail-gate 22 is slammed closed, the latch 136 can pivot with respect to the handle 140 and automatically lock itself.

Controls The source of power for the fluid pressure motor consists of a clutch type pump (not shown) which is driven from the engine of the vehicle to which the tailgate is attached. Such pump has a control with: a neutral position in which fluid pressure is locked and the pump inoperative; a power position in which the pump is operating and supplying fluid under pressure; and a release position in which the pump is inoperative and the pressure released. In order to operate such control, the tailgate lift is provided with a control handle 30 pivotally mounted on the outward facing wall of the roadside pillar 12. A shaft 144 mounted in such wall and in a bearing 145 on the inner wall 40 supports the control handle 30 and carries within the channel 38 a lever 146. This lever is connected by a link 148 to a yoke 150 on the end of a rod 152. This rod is slidable in a housing 154 which is held against movement by being mounted in brackets 156 and secured thereto in the usual manner. This rod and housing are connected by a Bowden type wire to the control of the pump. The control 30 is shown in the neutral position. As such control is moved to the right it causes the pump to operate and force fluid under pressure through the pipe 122 into the cylinder 98 to lift the sliders and tail-gate. When the control 30 is moved back to the neutral position, the pump is disengaged but the fluid pressure is locked to hold the lifting mechanism in the position it was in at the time the control 30 was moved to neutral position. As the control 30 is moved to the left of neutral, the pump remains disengaged but the fluid pressure is released to permit the lifting mechanism to collapse under the force of gravity and the spring 104 and lower the sliders and tail-gate.

It is desirable to provide a safety mechanism which will determine the neutral position and lock the motor control in such neutral position. Such safety control consists of a pin 157 slidably mounted in a hollow housing 158 carried by the cover 62. Within the housing 158, the pin is provided with a collar 160 against which a spring 162 presses to continually urge the pin inwardly into locking position. A key 164 operable in a slot in the outer wall of the housing 158 is secured to the pin 157 so that when the knob 34 is manually moved to the position shown in broken line, the pin may be rotated and the key 164 will engage the face of such wall and hold the pin 157 in inoperative position. The inner end of pin 157 will pass through a hole 166 in the lever 146 and in the neutral position of the control 30. When the slider 18 is fully raised such end will pass through a hole 168 in the inner wall 40 through a hole 170 in such slider 18 to mechanically lock such slider and take some strain off the lifting mechanism. It is not necessary to lock the pin 157 in its inoperative position. The lever 146 is provided with an extension 172 on the upper edge thereof and the end of the pin may ride on the surface of the lever 146 and extension 172 as the control 30 is moved on either side of neutral position. Whenever the handle 30 is moved into neutral position, the pin 157 will automatically slip into the hole 166 and lock the control in such neutral position. As the motion of lever 146 clockwise from neutral position is very limited (by the pump control) it is unnecessary to have an extension similar to extension 172 on the bottom thereof.

Operation With the tail-gate lift installed, the operator can control raising and lowering of the tail-gate thereof from one position adjacent the roadside end of the express body. Starting with the tail-gate 22 raised and closed and the control 30 in neutral position, the operator first unlatches the tail-gate locking mechanism 32 by moving the handles 140 upwardly and lowers the tail-gate to horizontal position. The next step is to momentarily withdraw the safety mechanism knob 34 and move the control 30 to the left. This releases the locked fluid pressure and the sliders 18 and 20 and tail-gate 22 start to lower as fluid leaves the cylinder 98. If the operator failed to first unlatch the locking mechanism 32, the tail-gate would nevertheless become unlocked as the sliders 18 and 20 are lowered and the tail-gate 22 would drop to horizontal position. As the tail-gate reaches the ground the operator moves the control 30 to the right back to neutral position in which it will automatically lock unless he has withdrawn and locked the safety mechanism 34 out of operative position. If the operator should fail to move the control 30 to neutral position as the tail-gate reaches the ground, no damage would occur as the sliders and tail-gate drop only by the force of their own weight. The flexible cables 118 and 120 merely become slack as the lowering mechanism continues to collapse. When the collar bears against the curbside end of the cylinder 98 further movement of the fluid pressure motor is stopped. If in the lowering operation one end of the tail-gate 22 should hit a curb or other obstruction so that its downward motion is thereby arrested, the opposite end and its slider would still continue down. Within a reasonable degree, the tailgate 22 can be tilted with respect to each of the hangers 82 without causing any misalining of the sliders with respect to the pillars so that binding might occur. The differential in the travel of the sliders is accommodated by slackness in the cable which is secured to the slider that has been stopped. After material has been stowed on the upper surface of the tail-gate 22, the control 30, after release of safety device 34, is then moved to the right from neutral position to supply power to the lifting mechanism and raise the sliders and tail-gate. If the tail-gate is at an unlevel position at the commencement of such raising, the lower slider will first be raised and then when slack is taken up the other slider will start to rise simultaneously and the tail-gate will be moved to level position and continue its raising motion. When the tail-gate has been lifted so that its surface is level with the surface of the floor of the body, the control 30 is moved to the left back to neutral position wherein it is locked. At the same time the safety lock 34 engages the slider 18 to mechanically hold it in the raised position. In the event the operator failed to move the control 30 to neutral position by the time such uppermost limit has been reached no harm will be done as the pressure release valve (not shown) of the pump will open to bypass fluid and prevent the increase of pressure beyond that for which the lifting mechanism is designed.

Although only one embodiment of the invention is shown and described herein, it will be understood that this application is intended to cover such changes or modifications as come within the spirit of the invention or scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A unitary tail-gate lift comprising a pair of vertical pillars having guide portions, a main housing extending between and secured to said pillars intermediate the ends thereof, said housing and pillars forming an integral unit attachable as such to a truck body, sliders guided within said pillars on said guide portions, hangers on said sliders projecting beyond said pillars, a tail-gate pivotally secured to said hangers and movable between a platform position and a gate position, and actuating means within said main housing and said pillars for raising and lowering said sliders, said actuating means forming part of said integral unit and being within the confines of said main housing and said pillars, the main housing being laterally displaced from said tail-gate so as to be in non-interfering relation with the raising and lowering movement thereof.

2. A unitary tail-gate lift as defined in claim 1, further provided with a plurality of stud bolts secured to said pillars and said main housing, whereby said lift may lge tfastened as a unit to the frame of an express type truck 3. A unitary tail-gate lift comprising a pair of vertical pillars providing guides for sliders, a main housing extending between and secured to said pillars intermediate the ends of said pillars, said housing and pillars forming an integral unit attachable as such to a truck body, sliders guided within said pillars and having hangers projecting beyond said pillars, a tail-gate pivotally secured to said hangers and movable between a platform position and a gate position, and means within said main housing for raising and lowering said sliders, said means forming part of said integral unit, said main housing consisting of two pints telescopically interfitting to adjust the width of said li t.

4. A unitary tail-gate lift as defined in claim 3, one of said parts being larger than the other to hold and mount said means.

5. A unitary tail-gate lift as defined in claim 3, in which there are stud bolts secured to said pillars and said main housing to fasten said lift as a unit to the frame of an express type truck body.

6. A unitary tail-gate lift as defined in claim 3, one of said parts being larger than the other to hold and mount said means, and in which there are stud bolts secured to said pillars and said larger part to fasten said lift as a unit to the frame of an express type truck body.

7. A tail-gate lift comprising a pair of vertically disposed hollow members, a horizontally disposed main housing extending between and secured to said members, said housing and members together forming an integral unit attachable as such as to a truck body, a fluid pres sure motor including a piston rod mounted within said main housing, a first group of sheaves located within said main housing having their axes fixedly located with respect thereto, a second group of sheaves carried by said piston rod, sliders guided within said vertical members having projections for pivotally carrying a tail gate, a directional pulley carried by each of said vertical members partially within said member and said main housing, a flexible cable reeved over said sheaves and directional pulleys and having its outer ends secured to said sliders whereby operation of said fluid pressure motor causes said sliders to be raised and lowered, and a tail gate carried by said sliders.

8. A tail-gate lift as defined in claim 7 in which the outer ends of said flexible cable are adjustably secured to said sliders.

9. A tail-gate lift as defined in claim 7 in which said flexible cable is divided into two parts with the inner ends of each part rigidly secured to said motor and the outer ends adjustably secured to said sliders.

10. A tail-gate lift as defined in claim 9 in which said parts are directed around cable-holding members positioned at the bottom of said sliders whereby said sliders may said directional pulleys.

11. In a tail-gate lift, a vertically disposed pillar having a first and a second longitudinally extending compartment separated by an inner wall, a slider guidably mounted within said first compartment and having a tail-gate bracket extending laterally therefrom at the lower end thereof, a slot in said first compartment extending upwardly from the bottom thereof to permit said slider to move upwardly within said first compartment with said bracket above the bottom of said pillar, means for raising and lowering said slider including a cable which extends into said second compartment near the top of said slot, a control for said means including a lever mounted within said second compartment, a handle positioned outside of said pillar and operatively connected with said lever, a safety lock comprising a first hole in said inner wall, a second hole in said slider, said holes being in juxtaposition when said slider is raised to its upper limit in said second compartment, a hole in said lever in alignment with said first hole when said handle is in neutral position, and a spring-biased pin carried by said pillar and projecting into said second compartment in alignment with said first mentioned hole whereby said pin automatically locks said lever in the neutral position of said handle and also locks said slider in the uppermost position thereof.

12. In a tail-gate lift as defined in claim 11, the provision of locking means for automatically holding said spring-biased pin in inoperative position.

13. In a tail-gate lift, spaced vertically disposed pillars, an adjustably extensible main housing extending between and connected to said pillars, sliders guidably mounted in said pillars, tail-gate pivot hangers secured to and extending laterally from said sliders, said hangers having pivot bearings therein, a tail-gate having pivot bearings within the peripheral confines thereof, a pivot rod passing through all said pivot bearings to pivotally interconnect said tail-gate and said sliders, and recesses in said tailgate for receiving said hangers, said recesses being long enough to permit said hangers to be moved axially of said pivot within the limits of the extensible adjustment of said main housing.

14. In a tail-gate lift as defined in claim 13, the provision of tail-gate latches mounted on the upper part of said pillars, openings in the upper edge of said tail-gate, and latch engagers adjacent said openings, said openings being sufficiently long to permit said latches to move widthwise relatively of said tail-gate within the limits of the extensible adjustment of said main housing to engage with said latch engagers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,903,431 Abbe Apr. 11, 1933 1,917,621 Weber July 11, 1933 1,919,608 Troell July 25, 1933 1,977,655 Troell Oct. 23, 1934 2,110,239 Richter Mar. 8, 1938 2,158,596 Swanson May 16, 1939 2,236,317 Howland Mar. 25, 1941 2,298,166 Richards Oct. 6, 1942 2,325,568 Eaton July 27, 1943 2,426,114 Novotney Aug. 19, 1947 2,497,474 Snow Feb. 14, 1950 2,498,161 Hamilton Feb. 21, 1950 2,530,341 Satsky Nov. 14, 1950 2,553,156 Woodward May 15, 1951 2,554,433 Warren May 22, 1951 2,581,333 Vawter Jan. 1, 1952 2,590,591 Winkler Mar. 25, 1952 be raised so that their bottoms are close to 

